Back in my innocent
teenage years I used to dream of becoming a football player. Or a
lawyer, like Matlock. Or Robin Hood. Needless to say, all of these
dreams have failed miserably and none of them are likely to ever
manifest. And it doesn't matter – the little boy who might get
disappointed is long gone.
As we grow older and
change, our dreams change too – what seemed once like a great idea
is now nothing but a sweet little fantasy from distant times. However,
new dreams are born constantly and while many of these also
disappear again, some persist. And when a dream persists in your
consciousness you have two options: Either you ignore it, in which
case you are left with a rather unpleasant feeling of 'I wish I
had...', or you try to turn the dream into reality.
For quite a few years I've
been wanting to see what happens if I combined three things that have
played an important role in my life – music, photos and words. I
kept thinking, 'how exciting it must be to do a film one day'. One
day...
At the end of 2014 'one
day' was suddenly right in front of me. I had no clue about
filmmaking yet somehow it seemed possible. All I had to do was to jump over some stupid
self-doubts and dive headfirst into a new adventure. Scary and
uncomfortable stuff, but doable. And so I did...
11 months later, I've just
finished a 85min documentary film about change. It's been an amazing
journey full of ups and downs: shooting in several countries, great conversations, messed-up recordings, 3 months spent like a super nerd solidly in front of the computer, having to deal with a bunch a very unprofessional professionals, working with some highly talented artists, running a crowdfunding campaing, frustration, gratitude, madness...and learning, so much learning!
The result is a film called 'anicca - embracing change'. It's a very personal and honest documentary about key issues regarding our strugge with change: fear, courage, trust and the big challenge of accepting reality as it is.
Last Sunday we celebrated the official premiere in Bonn. It's been a wonderful event, full of beautiful people, inspirational stories and hope. Half way through watching the film I suddenly thought, 'wow, I've made a film - I'm a film maker now!', quickly followed by, 'how on Earth did this happen...?'
You have a dream? Make it happen! And if it doesn't work out, try a different one. As my Dad always says, you will never fail as long as you keep trying. And as they say in India, everything is possible!
From today, anicca is available to be watched online - in English, German or Spanish.
